Process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics

ABSTRACT

The process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics, consists in knitting a first part of the upper with a group of needles having an overall maximum number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position, the maximum number of needles being equal to the number of needles present in a cylinder of a circular knitting machine.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of International Patent Application No. PCT/2018/063398, filed May 22, 2018, which claims priority of Italian Patent Application No. 102017000064065, filed Jun. 9, 2017. The entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics.

BACKGROUND

As is well known, on the market there are currently numerous types of shoes consisting of a knit upper having different technical characteristics which make them suitable for any user.

In the technique used to produce the knit upper, knitted with a rectilinear knitting machine, after the formation of the upper it is necessary to cut off the excess yarn, consequently further increasing production times and costs.

To overcome at least in part these drawbacks, circular knitting machines have been used to make the knit of an upper.

SUMMARY

The task of the present invention is to provide a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which overcomes the drawbacks of the cited prior art.

Within the scope of this task, one object of the invention is to provide a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which optimizes the use of the needles used for forming the entire upper.

It is a further object of the invention to conceive a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which, thanks to the use of a larger number of needles, increases the comfort and wearability of the upper itself.

It is a further object of the invention to conceive a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which allows the possibility of knitting a very large number of yarns together to produce sizes that are larger or smaller than those of standard uppers without ever having to cut them continuously.

It is a further object of the invention to conceive a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which enables the possibility of creating a pouch that simultaneously contains both the tip and the heel of the user's foot.

It is a further object of the invention to conceive a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which enables, among other things, eyelets for the passage of laces, the laces themselves, a protective tongue and the heel-counter cover to be made simultaneously.

It is a further object of the invention to conceive a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which further enables a counter-upper to be produced simultaneously with the upper.

It is a further object of the invention to conceive a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which advantageously enables, depending on the type of sole the upper will be connected to, a closure of the same with an axis aligned with the axis of the sole so as to remain below the underside of the foot and thus totally covered.

These objects and others that will become more apparent below are achieved by a process for making an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics, characterized in that it knits, with a knitting machine, a first part of the upper with a group of needles of the machine having an overall maximum number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, said knitting machine is a circular machine and said maximum number of needles is equal to the number of needles present in a cylinder of said circular knitting machine.

The present invention also relates to an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics characterized in that it comprises a first and a second part of the upper, each formed by a group of needles that work with a maximum number equal to the number of the needles present in a needle-bearing cylinder of a circular knitting machine.

The dependent claims better clarify additional features of the process disclosed in claim 1.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Additional features and advantages will become more apparent from the description of preferred, but non-exclusive, embodiments of the invention, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the appended drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of the needle-bearing cylinder according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the shoe and of the upper according to the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the bottom of the upper according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 schematically show, for explanatory purposes, the working steps of the needles of a hypothetical cylinder of 12 needles for the sake of clarity, but it should be understood that there are, for example, 120 working needles for making the upper according to the invention; FIG. 6 is explanatory and graphically represents the two parts of the upper that are knitted according to the technical scheme of FIG. 4 and FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 respectively show the joining of the sole to the upper that has been made and the obtainment of the final shoe according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

With particular reference to the above-described figures, the process for making an upper 1 for shoes 2 with advanced technical characteristics, according to the invention, consists in knitting a first part of the upper 1 with a group of needles 3 in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position.

Advantageously, during the process of making the knit of the first part of upper, the maximum number of needles is equal to the number of needles 3 present in a cylinder 5 of a circular knitting machine that is not represented.

With the process of the invention it is possible to knit a second part of the upper 1 with a group of needles 3 likewise having an overall maximum number of needles 3 in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position.

In this case as well, the maximum number of needles 3 is equal to the number of needles present in the cylinder 5.

According to the process, the second part of the upper 1 is knitted before or after the first part 1 a of the upper 1, but in any case the complete upper is unloaded from the machine with the connection of the first part to the second part 1 b, or vice-versa, having already been made simultaneously with the formation thereof, thus obtaining several important advantages.

First of all, by means of the process conceived it is possible to create an upper that does not require sewing and, as will be illustrated below, it is possible to carry out, with one knitting cycle, all the knitting in order to obtain a part of the upper, using a number of needles 3 equal to those contained in the cylinder 5 for the execution thereof.

In FIG. 4 and FIG. 5, by way of explanatory example, a 12-needle-bearing cylinder is represented, but in reality the needles of a cylinder of a circular machine can also be more numerous, for example 120, or ten times as much.

By means of the process of the invention, the area covering the instep of the foot, the widest part, begins to be created; in row 1, 120 needles (12 in the drawing) are used.

The selected needles are progressively decreased until arriving at row 7, in the narrowest area associated with the tip of the upper.

In this area only 50 needles are used.

Subsequently, the underside area of the foot opposite the instep of the foot is created, arriving at row 13, where the same 120 needles of row 1 are again used. In other words, a complete upper 1, made up of a first and second parts 1 a and 1 b, can be made, with an enormous advantage from all points of view (time, comfort, wearability, size and technical/physical characteristics), with a maximum number of needles 3 greater than the number of needles 3 present in the needle-bearing cylinder 5 of a circular knitting machine.

In the case of 120 needles present in the cylinder, it is as if 240 were used.

During the formation of the first and second parts of the upper, the group of needles 3 (hereinafter indicated only as needles 3) makes at least a three-dimensional pouch 10 suitable for simultaneously containing the tip and the heel of the user's foot.

During the formation of the upper, a group of needles is in the drop stitch position in order to pick up the yarn to weave the pouch 10 and another group of needles is in the missed stitch position, so it does not participate in the creation thereof.

During the formation of the upper, the needles 3 make at least the eyelets 20 for the laces thereof.

During the formation of the eyelets 20, the needles 3 are in a position for creating the knit without ever increasing in number and work simultaneously before and after forming the eyelets 20.

In this case, the needles 3 comprise both the needles used to form the eyelets and the needles used in the other areas of the first and second parts of the upper.

During the formation of the first and second parts of the upper, the needles 3 also make the fastening laces 30 thereof.

During the formation of the laces 30, the needles 3 are determined by the width of each lace and create the knit without there ever being an increase in the number of needles used for all the rows necessary in order to arrive at the desired length of the lace and simultaneously fix the end of each lace to the first or second part of the upper.

During the formation of the upper 1, the needles 3 make at least a protective tongue 40 for protecting the user's foot from the tension of the laces.

During the formation of the protective tongue 40, the needles are in the drop stitch position so as to connect the tongue to the first and second parts of the upper and pick up the yarn to weave the tongue.

The needles 3 can increase or decrease with every change in direction of the needle-bearing cylinder 5 in order to determine the size of the tongue.

During the formation of the first and second parts of the upper, the needles 3 make at least an elastic zone 50 made with an elastic yarn.

During the formation of the elastic zone 50, the needles 3 comprise needles to the right and left of the elastic zone and knit with the elastic yarn.

In this case, the needles 3 can increase or decrease at every reversal of direction of the needle-bearing cylinder 5.

During the formation of the first and second parts of the upper, the needles 3 also form the join 60 between the various knitted parts thereof.

During the formation of the join 60, the needles are in the drop knit position and rise to pick up the right knitting yarn and, alternately, they are in the drop knit position and rise to pick up the left knitting yarn.

The needles, in this case, can increase or decrease at every change of direction of the needle-bearing cylinder 5.

During the formation of the first and second parts of the upper, the needles make at least a heel-counter cover 70, during the formation of which the needles are in the drop knit position and pick up the yarn to weave the heel-counter cover and can increase or decrease at every change of direction of the needle-bearing cylinder 5 depending on the size of the heel-counter cover.

During this knitting, the needles are also in the missed stitch position and do not participate in the creation of the heel-counter cover.

During the formation of the upper, the needles 3 make at least additional holes 80 for anchoring the same to a sole or any internal lining of the upper.

During the formation of the first and second parts of the upper, the needles 3 make at least an opening for forming a seam 90 of the tip of the upper aligned with the axis 91 of the sole 6 itself, since it can increase or decrease at every change of direction of the needle-bearing cylinder 5. In this manner, as is easily comprehensible when the upper 1 is connected to the sole 6, the seam 90 will be totally hidden and covered by the sole, guaranteeing a perfect aesthetic effect for the footwear.

In particular, the seam of the tip 90, according to the process, will be positioned below the underside of the foot and will move away from the tip, thus considerably increasing the resistance of the upper itself and solving any aesthetic problem in an optimal manner.

By way of example, as already mentioned, up to 120 needles, corresponding to the needles contained in the needle-bearing cylinder, can be used to make the first part of the upper.

In order to make the second part of the upper as well, it is still possible to use the 120 needles of the cylinder, for a total of 240 needles.

What has been said means that with this process it is possible to increase the circumference of the knit product in order to make sizes that are larger or smaller than the standard ones, while at the same time increasing comfort and the wearability of the upper.

The present invention also relates to an upper for shoes with advanced technical characteristics which comprises a first and a second part of the upper 1, each formed by a group of needles 3 which work with a maximum number equal to the number of the needles present in a needle-bearing cylinder 5 of a circular knitting machine, not represented.

Essentially, according to the invention, the process for making an upper for shoes comprises the following steps: during the movement between successive reversals in the knitting machine, knitting the first part 1 a of the upper having a perimeter edge 100 simultaneously with a group of needles 3 of the machine having an overall number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position, which may vary up to the number of needles present in the machine; and, during the movement between successive reversals in the knitting machine, knitting the second part 1 b of the upper having a perimeter edge 101 simultaneously with a group of needles 3 of the machine having an overall number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position, which may vary up to the number of needles present in the machine.

The second part 1 b of the upper is knitted before or after the first part 1 a of the upper and the complete upper is unloaded from the machine with the connection of the perimeter edge 100 of the first part 1 a to the perimeter edge 101 of the second part 1 b having already been made simultaneously with the formation thereof.

So, if the second part 1 b is knitted first, the first part 1 a is knitted subsequently but during knitting of the first part 1 a the perimeter edge 100 under construction of the first part 1 a is connected to the perimeter edge 101 of the previously knitted second part 1 b.

Vice versa, if the first part 1 a is knitted first, the second part 1 b is knitted subsequently but during knitting of the second part 1 b the perimeter edge 101 under construction of the second part 1 b is connected to the perimeter edge 100 of the previously knitted first part 1 a.

During the connection between the perimeter edges 100 and 101 of the two parts 1 a and 1 b, homologous rows of knit stitches of the two parts 1 a and 1 b are reciprocally connected at their ends.

Given that in order to knit each part 1 a, 1 b it is possible to use, with the exception of the needles 3 necessary for the connection between the perimeter edges 100 and 101 of the first part 1 a and of the second part 1 b, all of the remaining needles 3 present in machine; the knit stitches in each row of each part 1 a, 1 b may vary up to almost the number of needles present in machine.

In this manner, in the finished upper, each pair of homologous rows of knit stitches of the two parts 1 a and 1 b can have an overall number of knit stitches that is greater than the number of needles present in machine, and in particular up to almost double the number of needles present in machine.

It should be noted that the same process can be implemented in a rectilinear knitting machine instead of in a circular knitting machine.

Each part 1 a and 1 b can be entirely made by reversing the movement of the machine, in particular by reversing the direction of rotation of the cylinder in a circular machine or the direction of translation of the carriage in a rectilinear machine, every time that the formation of one row of knit stitches begins and the formation of the subsequent row of knit stitches ends. In this case, all the rows of knit stitches in each part 1 a and 1 b will have an open conformation. In this case, it is moreover possible to avoid the formation of the opening in the second part 1 b and consequently the seam 90.

However, it may be envisaged, as illustrated in FIG. 6, that an area 102, 103 in at least one part 1 a and 1 b is made without reversing the movement of the machine in order to form some rows that will thus have a closed loop conformation.

Naturally, if the upper to be made is small in size and does not require the use of more than half of the needles 3 present in the machine, it is possible to knit in parallel two uppers in opposite parts of the cylinder of the circular machine or of the carriage of the rectilinear machine.

The process for making an upper for shoes according to the invention is susceptible of numerous modifications and variants, all falling within the scope of the inventive concept; moreover, all the details may be replaced by technically equivalent elements.

The materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be of any type according to needs and the state of the art. 

1. A process for making an upper for shoes, comprising the following steps: during the movement between successive reversals in the knitting machine, knitting a first part of the upper having a perimeter edge simultaneously with a group of needles of said machine having an overall number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position or in a plain drop stitch position or in a missed stitch position, which may vary up to the number of needles present in said machine; and, during the movement between successive reversals in the knitting machine, knitting the second part of the upper having a perimeter edge simultaneously with a group of needles of said machine having an overall number of needles in a tuck stitch or loop position and/or in a plain drop stitch position and/or in a missed stitch position, which may vary up to the number of needles present in said machine; wherein that said second part of the upper is knitted before or after said first part of the upper; and iwherein that the complete upper is unloaded from said machine with the connection of the perimeter edge of the part knitted after to the perimeter edge of the part kitted before having already been made simultaneously with the formation of the part knitted after.
 2. The process according to claim 1, wherein said machine is a circular knitting machine.
 3. The process according to claim 1, wherein said first and second part of the upper define at least a three-dimensional pouch for simultaneously containing the tip and the heel of the user's foot.
 4. An upper for shoes, comprising a first and a second part, each knitted by a group of needles that works with a maximum number equal to the number of needles present in a needle-bearing cylinder of a circular knitting machine. 